The use of underground well bores to access and recover subsurface resources is well-known. For example, water, oil, gas and other hydrocarbons as well as other underground resources may be recovered by drilling from the surface to an underground formation containing the resource and producing the resource through the well bore to the surface.
Underground well bores may be used in conjunction with each other to inject a treatment solution and recover a byproduct. For example, precious metals may be mined by injecting a treatment solution into a deposit and recovering the solution plus dissolved precious minerals. The precious mineral is then recovered from the mixture at the surface. Also, heavy oil may be recovered from a tar sand or other zone by injecting steam into a first well and recovering oil pushed by the steam to a second well. In addition to recovering resources, injection and recovery wells may be used to recover underground contaminants posing a danger to the environment.